Joshua Duyan
Andrew W. Mellon Undergraduate Fellow in the Humanities
2004—2005 Forum on Sleep and Dreams
Joshua Duyan
Photography and Design
The Play of Photography in Evoking the Dreamlike
I am using abstract and surreal photography as a means to visually communicate the singleness of dreamlike imagery. By contrasting the two-dimensional and the three-dimensional, I hope to show spatial relations, light, and the tension between symmetry and asymmetry. Imagery abstraction detracts from the sense of normalcy that is often associated with the photographic medium. Abstract and surreal imagery can evoke dreams and represent the emotions and relative cognition associated with them. By employing these truths, parallels in the imagery can be drawn to our lives. The viewer will not only see the photograph as an image, but also experience it with reminiscent emotions.